Accuracy International Customer Experience at BSS

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Delivery said:
Having recently (2023) purchased a brand new AX-MC at quite a chunk of change I was at the BSS Friday I was interested in looking at the new AXSR and having waited patiently while another person was asking their questions I stepped forward.

I was a bit narked that as I stepped forward another person arrived at the stand and also stepped forward to look at the AXSR and the AI staffer turned to the other guy and started talking to him, so I felt a little put out but dismissed it as unintentional if not a little insensitive, not quite what you might expect of a highly professional organisation at a trade show.

Anyway I got the look that I should ask my question while the other guy was still there and I did ask for a bit of an overview on the AXSR.

As the AI guy started to talk, a fella he obviously knew came up behind him and started talking and interacting with him. The AI guy was carrying on with this fella and another fella turned up and started interacting the other two, the other prospective customer walked away presumably non plussed.

The AI guy then turned to the second fella and said something along the lines of “I’m working and you guys just cost me a potential customer” - he then looked towards me, turned around and carried on talking to these other fellas.

I obviously assumed that as he was halfway through his sentence when he stopped talking to me and started talking to the other guys I must clearly not “look like” an AI customer somehow as I clearly got the message that he was concerned that the other person walked off but didn’t seem concerned about me at all.

At this point I walked off thinking how I’d paid to get into the show with the explicit intention of seeing just a few stands and having a browse where AI was one of those two and I’d been ignored twice.

Although the whole experience was less than 5 minutes I was even more annoyed and feeling completely unappreciated as an AI customer.


Does anyone else feel the general lack of concern for how people in allegedly professional relationships present themselves to the public reflects on the company or is the general view that the “younger generation” are just like that and we should lower our expectations accordingly?

At this point I would not be looking at a new AI first whereas until this encounter it had always been the brand that I aspired to.

D
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This is Alice Bond from Accuracy International. We are sorry that feel you were unable to get time to talk with us and have your questions answered at the British Shooting Show when you visited. Everyone on the AI stand did their level best to attend to anyone who wanted to talk to us. It must have been a genuine oversight as our stand has been extremely busy every day and we felt everyone had a good experience that did talk with us. Please feel free to make contact directly with me and I will be happy to discuss and answer any questions you may have.
Thank you to everyone that has visited us over the last few days.
 
I hear where you are coming from, and I agree the behaviour was at worst rude and at best unprofessional. I'm a firm believer in treating everyone kindly and with respect (not always successful, I'm only human). I've also worked stands at trade shows. It can be difficult and doing it successfully relies not only on the people manning it, but the people (usually marketing) setting the stage and preparing the stand and those manning the stand to deal with the public and be "on target" with the company goals at the time. Easy when you have sales/marketing on stand, more difficult when you have more technical people there.

I have an AX myself.
 
Ronin said:
Hardly think that matters - most owners I associate with wouldnt dream of wearing cammo or “green country wear” to a show

Smart casual far more appropriate

Saves one looking like a twxt
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No doubt as we’ve just heard how their Sales Representatives are way too casual but perhaps not so smart.

K
 
Delivery said:
Does anyone else feel the general lack of concern for how people in allegedly professional relationships present themselves to the public reflects on the company or is the general view that the “younger generation” are just like that and we should lower our expectations accordingly?
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If your experience was as described, I wonder why you did not feel you could raise it at the time, with the individual concerned?
 
Stalker1962 said:
I wonder why you did not feel you could raise it at the time, with the individual concerned?
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Sorry I thought I had made that clear. Every time I went to say something the guy was heavily engaged with the other people mostly with his back turned but as I said he glanced at me for a fraction of a second several times.
I absolutely would have said something if I thought I had his attention.
It was a bit like when you want to ask for the bill in a restaurant and every time you want the waiter/waitress they look away.
I would have had to have practically shouted to ensure I had his attention and I didn’t want to do that.
 
Delivery said:
Sorry I thought I had made that clear.
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Nothing to apologise for. I wasn't there (obviously), and I did not live your experience.

However.

There are ways of getting folks 'attention' without raising your voice, and whilst it is all too easy for me give 'advice' from the safety and comfort of my keyboard...

images-5.jpeg

A brief explanation to him as you were leaving (and why you were leaving) may have just made your point for him.

Hopefully it is a one-off, and perhaps you just caught him at an 'off' moment.

In any event, don't over analyse it, in the scheme of things, it is no big thing and AI rifles are rather decent.
 
Stalker1962 said:
it is no big thing and AI rifles are rather decent
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I agree to an extent
But the way I felt (and still feel) is that as a customer I was not really considered important or respected.
I can absolutely get that if I’m in pound land where I am just buying on price and not quality where they might just employ the cheapest people possible to keep costs low
When I’m buying a premium product at least twice the price of other more mass produced product (Ruger RPR for example) I do expect a higher standard of service
 
Delivery said:
When I’m buying a premium product at least twice the price of other more mass produced product (Ruger RPR for example) I do expect a higher standard of service
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One of the Beetles (I think Paul McCartney) told of going into a Rolls Royce showroom 'back in the day'.

He was wearing jeans and didn't like the way he was treated by the salesman.

He went off and bought his car elsewhere, then drove it back to the first showroom, and asked the salesman if he was on commission, because he had just lost out on a sale.

Unknown.webp

It's not just you.
 
bluesako said:
his loss i would email accuracy int and tell how you have been treated the cheaky git bs
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Yes I agree, the senior guys who run the company will be interested in first hand customer feedback from a show they will have spent a good deal of money and preparation time on. Also you are an actual customer of theirs, I would think their MD/CEO will be mortified as it’s unlikely you are the first/only person to get that experience
 
Stalker1962 said:
He was wearing jeans and didn't like the way he was treated by the salesman.
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I think that's the essence of the two things that happened - put together it appeared like (to me at least) the person on the stand didn't view me as worth spending the time with or the "kind of person" that would/could buy an AI.

Up until that point I had advocated AI as an example of a British company that against the odds (at the time being in a shed) had achieved a pinnacle of excellence and a reputation for a high quality product
 
I also was at the show on Friday, I to visited the AI stand but they were busy all day with little time off to talk to everyone,I passed 3/4 time hoping to get a chat but not joy until 15:50 when I managed to get a quick 5 mins with my old mucker (those who know him will know this phrase) on the stall and talk about a build quickly and he said it was hell of a busy all day and hard to get to see everyone and notice everyone.
 
i believe the AI stand if you could call it that was an add on to the sportsman stand and yes i had the same experienc very little to see no one to talk to. But i did think the show was a let down anyway 6 hour round trip in and out in 2 hours including coffee. Never again
 
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